Stolen: The Final Chapter
by ViNoLa
Summary: Helloooo people! This is my finish to Stolen by Lucy Christopher my idol! . It's my idea of what might have happened in court. It's also my first story so don't be too hard on me! Please R&R! Disclaimer: I don't own this; it all belongs to the AMAZING Lucy Christopher. ;
1. Chapter 1

Helloooopeople! This is my finish to_Stolen_by Lucy Christopher (my idol!). It's my idea of what might have happened in court. It's also my first story so don't be too hard on me! Please R&R!

Disclaimer: I don't own this; it all belongs to the AMAZING Lucy Christopher. ;)

_~Stolen: The Final Chapter~_

Everyone's eyes are on me. A deafening silence resonates through the courtroom. The day is finally here.

Ty, your future rests in my hands. I thought I'd made my decision. I thought I had a plan, and I was going to stick to it. I was going to tell the judge exactly what happened. The truth. I wasn't going to save you. I was going to tell them the truth.

But now, looking at you, I don't know what I want anymore. You're seated at the dock, you're hands held tightly behind your back, with thick, metal cuffs. Your head is down, your golden hair falling in your face. You look different, now. I can't quite put a finger on it, but you look… vulnerable. It's a side of you I don't see very often.

Only a few weeks ago, I was looking forward to this moment. It was exactly what I'd wanted. You about to be thrown in prison, and me about to go home.

So now that I've finally got what I wanted, why am I holding back tears? Why do I feel like I've left a part of me back in the Australian outback; a part of me I can never replace? Why do I feel like my heart is shattered into a million pieces and you're the only one who can fix it?

I don't even know who I am anymore.

The judge clears her throat. It's time to begin.

I answer the easy questions: age, name, address. But my mind is somewhere else.

You.

You've lifted your head now. I can see your eyes, those icy blue eyes, staring back at me with that powerful intensity that they've always had. Everything else seems to fade away. There is nothing. Only you. Only your eyes.

I can see them so clearly, but I can't see past them. I can't read you, the way you can read me.

How do _you_feel about all of this? I can only imagine. Are you scared? Hopeful? Do you know what I'm going to say? Because I don't. Do you feel betrayed by me? Do you feel like this is my fault?

_Is_this my fault? Could I have done something to stop this? Do I _want_to stop this?

What the hell am I doing, Ty?

Because I haven't really said anything yet, but _I_ feel like I'm betraying you. I feel like _I'm_the one who should be sitting at that dock, held back with handcuffs, not you. But why?

I pry my eyes away from you, turning my head towards the judge.

"Miss Toombs," the judge starts. "How do you know Mr. Macfarlane?"

I open my mouth to reply, but the words catch dry in my throat.

What words? What do I want to say? Because I don't know the answer. How do I know you? _Do_I know you? Who are you, Ty?

"Miss Toombs," the judge repeats, impatient now. "Could you please explain how you met Mr. Macfarlane?"

I haven't got much time. How I begin this story –_our_story- determines your future, Ty. This is important. I have to choose my answer, and I have to choose it fast.

But I _can't_. I can't do this, Ty. I can't handle this kind of pressure.

I turn to you for guidance, but you give me nothing. Your eyes just stare into mine with emotions that I can't read.

"It was six years ago," I begin, but my voice can barely pass for a whisper. Everyone has to strain their ears to hear me. "I was ten. Ty –Tyler – was almost nineteen. We met at a park… in a rhododendron garden. We – we started talking. We became friends."

"What did you talk about?" the judge asks.

I turn to you again. This time, I see something I recognize in your eyes. Hope. "Uh… we talked about the flowers," I say, clearly losing the judge's interest. "Just childish small-talk, really. I was only ten."

The judge nods. "So how did your… your _friend_ end up kidnapping you?"

I swallow. "We… we met again, at the airport. In August, recently… I didn't recognize him. He – he offered to buy me a coffee. I said yes. We got talking again."

The judge sighs. "What did you talk about this time?"

"We were just getting to know each other. We introduced ourselves, talked about my parents' jobs, stuff like that. Just more small talk, I guess."

"Where is this going, Miss Toombs?" the judge interrupts. "How did he end up kidnapping you?"

I turn to you once again, but your head is lowered. "I – I think the coffee was d-drugged."

The judge doesn't say anything, just waits for me to continue.

So I do. "I don't really know what h-happened after that… I was kind of out of it, hence the drugs, and all… I th-think we were on a plane. He fed me some more drugs, I think. And then I woke up a-and I was there. In the Australian desert."

"Did Mr. Macfarlane ever abuse you, in any way?" asks the judge.

I shake my head. "Ty would never hurt me."

She nods slowly. I don't think she's convinced. "Describe your relationship with Mr. Macfarlane, Miss Toombs. Did you get along?"

"I hated him at first," I reply, honestly. "I was scared of him. But as the days went on… I realised he had no intention of hurting me. I learned to understand him. Him, and the beautiful Australian desert he calls home. I started seeing a different side of him. A side that I… I didn't know he had in him."

"And what else?"the judge urges.

I let my eyes trail back to you. You're head is still lowered, your face hidden by a mess of golden hair. "He told me about his… his life, before he met me. He told me about my life, too… he seemed to know more about it than I did. He taught me about the land, about how we're all twined together as one. He showed me something so… so beautiful, so different to anything I've ever seen before. And there… there was one night... Ty, do you remember that night?"

You lift your head to look at me, with hopeful eyes.

I smile. "That night when you told me stories of the stars? When you explained to me how everything is… is both eternal and brief. How everything, the whole world, is united, balanced on the wings of a moth. You told me how the desert was created… sung up by the spirits of the land. And we lay on the sand together, you held me in your arms. We slept under the stars. D-do you remember, Ty?"

You nod at me, your eyes shining.

"You saved my life, knowing that it meant tuning yourself in. I don't want you to go to jail, Ty, I don't!" I'm sobbing now. "It's taking away everything you've worked so hard for, freedom's all you ever wanted! They can't take that away from you, Ty, they _can't!"_

The judge raises her eyebrows. "And why don't you want him to go to jail, Miss Toombs?"

I take a deep breath. "Because I love him."

The courtroom gasps.

But it's true, isn't it? I love you. And it's such a relief to finally get it out there. To admit it to the courtroom, to my family, to you. And most of all, to finally admit it to _myself._

Your eyes are full of surprise, disbelief. But then you smile, your eyes welling up. "Gem…" you murmur.

I smile back at you, my own vision blurring with tears. "I love you, Ty."

_~The End~_

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my first story! Please feel free to review; I take feedback and criticism. :) Cheers! xx

~xoxo ViNi~


	2. Chapter 2

**_~Chapter 2 –Waiting For You~_**

Five years. It could have been worse, right? I could have let you go down for fifteen or twenty. But I didn't.

I think about where I'll be in five years. I'll be and adult, then, twenty-one years old. I'll be free to do what I want, make my own decisions. A normal twenty-one year old girl would have settled down with a decent guy, got herself a good job, be working towards marriage, even. A lot can happen in five years. I want to wait for you, but what if you don't wait for me? In five years time, I will make the hardest choice I've ever had to make:

I could go back home to London, try to forget you and move on...

Or I could run away with you and build back the life that we almost had together, back in the Australian outback. Give it one more shot.

Five years time seems like a lifetime away.

I know it's a light sentence, and I can still visit regularly, but I just... I don't know. When the judge bashed that hammer and read out your sentence, all I could think was...

That's five years of your life that you can never get back.

I nervously follow the officer down the dimly lit corridor leading to the prison cells.

To you.

This is my first visit since your sentence was decided. I'm not sure what to expect, how you'll react. I remember that look in your eyes as the officers led you away to your cell. I remember feeling helpless and cruel, watching you having your freedom snatched away from you while I stood there and did nothing.

As I walk, I imagine how you must have felt as you were led down here, walking down this same corridor.

Walking to your prison. Each step further and further from your freedom.

_No._

I look at your cell: a tiny, grey, dimly lit chamber. A single bed, small and white-sheeted stands in the corner. Your tall body frame wouldn't be able to fit comfortably on such a small mattress.

You're sitting in a corner, leaning up against the wall. A crumpled heap of arms and legs, your face hidden behind a tangled mess of sand-coloured hair. You haven't noticed me yet.

Something about the way you look so hopeless and vulnerable and crushed leaves me holding back tears.

"Seems like you have a visitor," the officer tells you.

At that, you look up, turn those blue eyes on me. "G-Gem...?" you stutter.

A tear slips silently down my face. Your eyes –they used to be so awake and full of life, so exquisite and so different to anything I've ever seen before. They used to reflect your personality. But now... now their just eyes.

If only a couple of weeks in this hellhole could do this to you, how are you going to be in five years?

"I want to be alone," I tell the officer, my voice shaky and uncontrolled.

"W-with the prisoner, Miss?" the officer asks doubtfully.

I nod.

He frowns. "I don't believe that's a very good idea, Miss..."

"Just go," I say, on the verge of tears. "Please."

The officer tips the brim of his hat, reluctantly. "As you wish, then."

Just before he leaves, he shoots a warning glance at you.

Once the sound of his footsteps has faded out, I come and sit next to you, leaning my back against the wall, just like you. So close yet so far away, with the thick metal bars the only thing separating you from me. The only thing separating you from freedom. From the one thing you've wanted your whole life.

We sit in silence for a while.

It's you who speaks first. "Gemma... when you said you loved me, in court... was it... did you really mean that, Gemma?"

I smile at you through the tears. "Ty. I meant it more than I've ever meant anything in my life."

A smile forms on your lips, mirroring mine as I watch your eyes become alive again.

Another moment of silence.

This time, it's me who speaks first. "You know... maybe it could have worked."

"What could have worked?" you ask, puzzled.

"Your plan."

You don't reply.

I keep talking. "Have you ever wondered what would have happened if that snake hadn't bit me? Or what if we chose to wait it out on your antivenoms, instead of coming here? We could have really had something, Ty."

You remain silent for a while, but when you speak, your voice is low and hesitant. "Sometimes I've wondered how it would have been if I'd just approached you normally. Maybe we could have started something... maybe you would have loved me before. And then maybe, when the time came, I could have asked you to run away with me... maybe you would have said yes. Maybe..."

"Ty... there's no point in asking 'what if?' we're never going to know."

Your forehead creases in thought. Then, you ask the question I've been dreading: "Gemma... Gemma, are you going to wait for me?"

I close my eyes against the tears, but they come anyway. I think of how to phrase my next words. I want to tell you 'yes', Ty, I really do, but I just... I just don't want to make any promises that I'm not so sure I can keep. In the end, I just give you the most honest answer I can. "I really don't know, Ty."

You look like my answer just physically hurt you, and I immediately hate myself for it.

"Screwed up, that's what it is!" I say, loud and sudden. "This whole damn thing is freaking screwed up. Is there any justice on this bloody earth? Is this really what it comes to? You spend your whole life working for freedom and _this _is how it ends? You stuck in this shithole for the next five years? I didn't want this, Ty; you have to believe me when I say I didn't want this! But what can I do? There's only so much I can take, Ty, I'm already at a boarding school in Perth, did you know that? I couldn't bear to go back to London, and do you know why? Because I wanted to stay here and be close to _you! _Do you think I'd do that if I didn't love you? I _love _you, okay? I just don't want to screw up my whole life over something so fragile as love."

I'm out of breath by the time I finish talking. I wait for your response, not knowing what to expect, but it never comes. Were you even _listening _to me?

You run your fingers through your hair and sigh, low and breathy.

"Um, Ty?" I begin, hesitantly.

"Yeah?" you reply.

"I... I never got to say thank you."

A small smile plays at your mouth. "For kidnapping you?"

"For saving my life."

He smiles, ruefully. "It's not saving your life if I was the one who put it in danger, Gem."

I weave my arm through the jail bars and take your warm, dry hand in mine. "You saved me from London. From becoming another version of my parents. You showed me something more. Something so much more."

Through the bars, your lips meet mine, soft and sweet. My thoughts are a blur as I wrap my hands around your neck and pull you closer still. You keep kissing me, and if this is wrong, then I don't give a shit, because it feels so right. And just when I think it can't possibly get any better, it _does, _and I never, _ever _want this to end. It seems you feel the same way too, because it doesn't look like your letting go anytime soon, so I let myself sink into your lips, and we kiss and kiss and kiss some more. If I was in love with you before, then this just sealed the deal. The rest of the world blurs out as I lose myself in your lips.

After what seems like an eternity of bliss, you finally pull away.

But now I've made my decision.

"Ty... Ty, I'm going to wait for you. Even if I have to wait a thousand years."


	3. Chapter 3

**__**_Hey guys! Here's my third chapter... it's kind of like, really short, so sorry about that! I don't think it's as good as the other two chapters, but hope you still enjoy it! Please R&R! And don't forget to follow if you think I'm worth it. Cheers! xx_

**_~Chapter 3 –Counting Up The Years~_**

I smile as I draw another line onto my tally. Four days since my last visit, three days until my next, six hundred and eighty-seven days until you're free.

Life seems so much more meaningful now that I have something to work towards, something to look forward to.

Now that you're in it.

I've joined a university in Perth. I can't exactly say it's going well. What with me being 'that chic who got abducted by some like sixty year old pervert and OMG rumour has it she's actually _in love _with him.' Nothing's going too well, really. After I chose you over my parents, I've figured they're pretty pissed. I tried to sugarcoat it. I didn't just straight up tell them that I want to stay near you. I told them I wanted a fresh start, away from England. I can tell they saw right through me. They know it's because of you. Despite how much they told me, "Oh, Gemma darling, we respect your decision, if that's what you want, then we respect that."

They don't. They don't 'respect' it at all.

No one believes me, about being in love with you. "Stockholm's Syndrome," they say. But I've done my research. I know that this is real love, Ty. My research has shown me that

in order for Stockholm syndrome to occur in any given situation, at least three traits must be present:

-A severely uneven power relationship in which the captor dictates what the prisoner can and cannot do

-The threat of death or physical injury to the prisoner at the hands of the captor

-A self-preservation instinct on the part of the prisoner

None of that is relevant to our relationship. You pretty much let me do whatever the hell I wanted to –even let me try to escape. You never once threatened to hurt me, never laid a hand on me, not like that –and I know you never would. And my feelings for you aren't some sort of survival mechanism. If that were the case, then why would such feelings still exist?

You'd think that after, like, three years the media would just let this go, but no, they clearly don't intend to anytime soon.

My whole life right now is turning out to be a total screw-up, to be honest. In fact, the only thing keeping me waking up ever morning is the knowledge that whatever happens, you're still going to be there, waiting for me.

Counting up the years.


	4. Chapter 4

Guys I am SOSOSO sorry! I have been incredibly busy –what with end-of-year exams and then Christmas and New Years and getting ready for going back to school –okay, you're not buying this. I'm sorry, I've just had a major case of writer's block, and haven't exactly overcome it, but here's the best I can do. I hope you haven't lost interest yet! So months later and still not completed (I'm so sorry), here it is, Chapter 4 (well, some of it), the one we've been waiting for –Ty and Gemma's reunion! Woohoo!

Please R&R feedback and criticism welcome :))  
xx, Vinola;)

**_~Chapter 4 -Free~_**

I throw the covers off and jump out of bed. I can't believe it. I can't freaking believe it. Freaking what the hell. And then it's like I'm on drugs or some shit, because I start laughing hysterically while I sprint to the bathroom and start madly brushing my teeth, and I can't stop laughing. Should I get dressed? Screw it. I slip into my coat on the way out the door, jump into my car. Stick my key in the ignition and jam my foot down onto the pedal. On my way there, I think I break every speed limit on the road. And my windows are fully wound down and I'm laughing and laughing into the wind, because here's a twenty-one-year-old woman still wearing her pajamas driving at, like, top speed at six o'clock in the morning, to get to a prison to pick up her kidnapper. Okay, what the actual f**k. And then I just keep laughing like some deluded hyena until I reach the prison, even when my stomach aches and I'm choking on my own tears.

I think it's safe to say I was hoping for one of those big, happy, like-in-the-movies reunions. You know, those ones where they run into each other's arms calling each other's names; "Ty!" Gemma!" "Ty!" "Gemma!"

No. Not quite. It took about three hours for them to finally let you even touch me. They talked to you a lot, took a lot of photos of you, told me lots of stuff which I didn't take in a word of, even took some photos of me too, you had to sign stuff, I had to sign stuff, and I think those three hours were the three longest hours of my life.

But that doesn't matter now, Ty. Because here you are, here _we _are, _together. _Togetherand _free._

Here we are sitting on the window ledge of my apartment bedroom, looking out over Perth City, looking out at the starlit skies, the skyscrapers, the bustling roads; me wrapped protectively in your arms. After all these years.

I'd planned so much to say to you, but now that I actually can, I can't form the words, and then I decide that maybe we don't need them, as the intensity of your deep blue eyes speaks enough for both of us. I wonder if you're also recalling the night we slept under the stars back in the desert, your arms holding me close.

"The stars," you murmur. "This is the amazing thing about them. You could be anywhere; you could be anyone. But wherever you are, whoever you are... the stars are always there too. It's like a reminder that in some way, we're all united. The whole world has this one thing in common."

I close my eyes and snuggle closer into your arms.

You continue speaking softly into my ear. "While I was in my prison cell, at night I'd look outside the window at the stars, and I'd feel some comfort that maybe somewhere, you were looking out at them too-"

"And thinking of that night in the desert," I finish for you.

You nod, your eyes shining. Another moment of silence passed before you say, "Gem, if this is love-"

"It is," I assure you.

"Then promise me this time it's forever."

"I promise."

"And if this is Stockholm's..." your voice trails off.

I brush my lips teasingly against yours, smiling as I say, "Then I've got a serious case of it."


End file.
